The Shattered Vase
by AlwaysYourAibou
Summary: The afterlife was supposed to mean happily ever after for the lost king. But happily ever after seems to be a lie. Can Yugi and the gang pick up the pieces without losing their own sanity?


Title: The Shattered Vase

Rating: T for now but maybe M later.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh otherwise this would be in the manga not just a fanfic.

Summary: The afterlife was supposed to mean happily ever after for the lost king. But happily ever after seems to be a lie. Can Yugi and the gang pick up the pieces without losing their own sanity?

A/N~ Atemu has always been characterized as the tough, brave, sturdy kind of person throughout fanfics and the manga. Like The True You, I kinda want to explore a more vulnerable side of him. I like the idea of him and Yugi having to swap the "protector" and "savior" positions they hold.

Chapter 1

His reflection said it all. The dark circles under his eyes made his pale skin seem more sun-deprived than it already was. His dry lips only proved that winter was kicking in with full force. The faint blush on his cheeks were evidence of the high cold wind damage he had experienced from a mere walk to school. The teen lifted his arms above his head and stretched his aching muscles.

However, it wasn't sickness that was overcoming the adolescent.

It was nearly midnight and the teen had his midterms the next morning. Sleep would have been a good idea if the tri-color haired teen didn't want to go off to dreamland. It wasn't that he didn't feel prepared for his midterms, he knew he didn't need to study anymore. Most of his nights for the past two weeks had been involved in his studies to keep his mind awake during the long and lonely nights. Sleep seemed to be an impossible idea after the past month or so.

Yugi Motou yawned and stretched his sore arms once again. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and tried to once again focus his attention on the image in the mirror. With his arms over his head still, he flexed slightly and smiled at some of the muscle build showing. He and his best friend, Jou, had been hitting the gym almost four times a week for three hours at a time. It was a great hobby he had come up with since his dueling thrive phased out. Besides, it had helped him and Jou bond in a way they hadn't before. It was a nice change and his character and physique was starting to show from it.

The teen chuckled softly and dropped his arms to his side. "I'm starting to act like Jou." He laughed aloud. He stopped his little laughing fit to stare in the mirror some more. He looked too tired to get away from his friend's questions anymore. Anzu and Honda had been especially worried by their friend's sudden exhausted look.

The warm water facet was turned on and Yugi waited for the water in his bathroom to get hot. It was unavoidable. Sleep had to occur tonight or he would bomb his midterms. That was not an option.

Since Atemu had left, Yugi realized that playing games wouldn't support a family. There were only so many tournament prizes Kaiba could offer before the CEO would lose profit in his own company. Yugi was going to have to do something with his life. As fun as games were, he was starting to become interested in other things. Games were everywhere and they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. He could play them whenever he got tired of the real world. However, his love for problem solving was going to have to be used to provide a substantial salary.

Lately Yugi's fascination had been with animals and veterinary science. He liked animals. He liked helping people out without having to deal with the people. Yugi was never a big people person. He enjoyed the company of his friends but lately he couldn't stand the world as a whole. There was simply too much violence, murder, death, and destruction for him to comprehend.

The warm water ran through his fingers and Yugi shivered. He loved the feeling of hot water on his body during a cold winter's night. He smiled softly and splashed some of the water on his face. Grabbing his wash, he removed the city scum of the day from his face and used a dry towel to dry off. Sleepiness started to overcome him as did the falling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Yugi shuddered and turned off the light to his bathroom.

He wandered out into his small bedroom and gazed around. He was beginning to think he was outgrowing his own room. That was a thought process for a later time. He knew telling his grandfather he planned to move out would break the old man's heart. It was not something Yugi wanted to think about before going to sleep.

His bed looked very inviting as Yugi tripped over a binder on his floor but conveniently fell onto his pillow. Yugi cursed under his breath and hoped his grandfather didn't hear the clutter. He pulled his legs onto the bed and flipped onto his back. His orange sheets were brought up to his chin as a sigh escaped his lips. Yugi gazed up through half lidded eyes and looked through his ceiling window at the pine tree and the stars above it.

One day he wanted to move out into the country. The city noise and crowds were starting to tire him more than anything. He would give anything for some peace and quiet. Perhaps then he could get some restful sleep.

Yugi bit his lip as his thoughts deviated to his former other half. He often wondered about him, especially lately. Wherever he was, he hoped that Atemu could see him and watch over him. Yugi flinched as he realized he didn't want his former soul partner to be watching him all the time. He was especially glad the former king wasn't around anymore to read his thoughts and see into his dreams. He would not feel comfortable with what he saw.

Flipping onto his side to get his mind off Atemu, Yugi closed his eyes and started going over the information he would need to know for his midterms. His physics class was going to be the most challenging. He was doing well with math, which surprised him but physics seemed to be his weak point. It didn't make sense to him. It amused him that it was a logic class but it didn't make logical sense to him.

Yugi smiled at his thoughts and felt his body going numb with exhaustion. Praying that his normal sleep pattern would not interfere with his peace tonight, Yugi allowed the darkness to overcome him.

DREAMING?TIME?

The body laying on the table writhed in pain. He watched with pure fascination. He had no idea so much blood could escape a body like that. It was amazing the limits the human body could endure. Small shaking and a pained groan escaped the tied man. Yugi swallowed shallowly and felt his mouth open a little, small breaths escaping it.

It was dark, cold even. The silver stone encased room seemed the keep the cold and darkness inside. The only light that entered the room came from a torch set at the doorway. Its resilient flame allowed shadows to flicker throughout the room.

The only truly noticeable feature of the room wasn't the sight or sounds, but the smell. If Yugi had his eyes closed he wouldn't have been able to tell whether the walls were painted with blood. It hung in the air like some kind of heavy gas. Yugi inhaled it softly and allowed the odor to give him a dizzy high. Pleasurable goosebumbs traveled up and down his legs. He loved the tension in the air right then. It felt right.

Another pained groan. _"Please."_ The broke voice resounded through the room. Yugi ignored it. He walked over to the figure twisting in heavy chains and scanned his body up and down. Where to make his next mark?

There was a deep wound on the man's right arm. This had been accomplished by a steak knife. Very sharp and very deep cuts could be made with it. The other cut on the man's left arm was done with the blade of a chainsaw. Yugi shifted his eyes to the gash in one of the man's legs. It was deep and fresher than the ones on his arms. It still bled a little. Yugi wasn't concerned though. This man couldn't die. He was a demon and demons couldn't die.

It was such a high knowing he could torture this individual all he wanted without even the possible consequence of killing him. It was a true delight.

Yugi gazed over at the only other platform in the small room. In the dimly lit room, Yugi could make out his weapons of choice, knives. Smiling, the teen gracefully walked over to them and used a single finger to trace one of the blades. So sharp and so powerful. Yugi shuddered with delight and grabbed a simple paring knife. He gazed at the tip and nodded firmly. Surely it wasn't the biggest weapon there but a simple paring knife could do a lot of damage.

The teen turned back to the quivering man who was watching him fearfully. He made his way back over to the figure. For the first time in a long time, the man shook with fear instead of pain. Gasping as he tried to move away from the predator. Yugi paused as he reached the platform holding his prey in one place. "You've brought this upon yourself, you know." He felt himself say. It didn't make sense and he wasn't too certain what he was talking about. However, the phrase seemed to be appropriate for the occasion.

_"Why?"_ The man gasped.

Yugi shrugged. "You'd know." He stated. He moved to the man's waist and took hold of his uninjured leg. Yugi could tell the figure was holding back a sob. He glanced one more time into the crimson eyes before slowly bringing the paring knife to the bronze skin.

Cuts had to be made slowly. They were more painful that way. It was an art really, cutting to make it hurt. It was something that had to be practiced carefully. Yugi held his breath as he dragged the knife slowly across the flesh. Pleasure ran through his body as the man struggle to move his leg away. Yugi's firm grip and the chain around his ankle prevented him from doing so.

Beautiful crimson flowed from the new wound, dripping slowly down the bronze leg, staining the little clothing shielding the man. Yugi could hear the sound of teeth grinding together in the man's best efforts to not scream. Yugi enjoyed this game immensely.

He took the paring knife and cut deeper into the fresh wound. A choked cry escaped the man, making Yugi beam. This was what he wanted. He removed the knife from the skin and watched the crimson liquid travel to the platform. Yugi placed the knife down and used his hands to move apart the skin on either side of the cut.

A scream this time. Yugi chuckled lowly and turned back to see crimson eyes clouded in pain. _"A-Aibou…please stop."_

NO?MORE?DREAMING?

Yugi bolted into a sitting position. His stomach was doing flip flops in his abdomen. Whimpering as tears came to his eyes he rushed out of his bed and into the bathroom. He threw the toilet cover up and emptied what was left of his dinner into the toilet bowl. Images of Atemu's tortured body flowed from his brain directly to his stomach.

Even after all the contents of his stomach had been harshly removed, the teen continued to dry heave. Heaving turned into sobs as Yugi rested his head on the toilet seat. Dry sobs escaped his lips as his body shook with the force of his emotional distress. He closed his eyes tightly and leaned back against the wall. He rocked back and forth as sweat ran down his body. He was soaked through. His tears mixed with the other salty drops on his face as he shuddered and hugged his knees tightly.

He knew he shouldn't have fallen asleep tonight.

This had been an almost every night occurrence for about a month. Every night it was the same thing. Atemu bound and being tortured by no other than his own former lighter half. Yugi sobbed again, pressing his head hard against his knee. He dug his nails into the skin of his forearms until he was sure that there was blood dripping down his arms.

He was sick. He was absolutely disgusting.

The bathroom seemed warmer than normal. Yugi glanced up from his crippled position to see the bathroom night light glowing as it always did. The light blue walls made the room seem brighter than it was. The wind outside of the window wasn't enough to cool off the bathroom.

Without attempting to dry his tears, Yugi stood on his shaky legs and peeled off his soaked shirt. It fell with a plop to the floor. Another shudder wracked his body as he looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were blood shot from his tears stinging them forcefully. His face was flushed red from the heat his body was giving off. Sweat decorated his forehead and seemed to sparkle in the light of his bathroom.

Yugi turned the cold water tap on and watched the water descend down the drain. His mind whirled in an incoherent thought process. His body still shook as he cupped his hands and splashed the ice cold water on his face. It probably would have been easier to stick his head out the window and wait for the winter cold to capture him and take him away.

After washing his face off, Yugi turned the water off and allowed the cold liquid to drip casually off his face. He braced himself against his sink and continued to pant, feeling especially dizzy. Yugi blinked hard and looked up at his reflection.

Frozen, for a split second he could have sworn there were hate-filled crimson eyes watching him. Yugi turned around in the darkness of the bathroom, his heart hammering in his chest. Yugi's eyes narrowed in the darkness and tried to seek out familiar bronze skin. If Atemu was capable of watching over him and seeing into his dreams, Yugi couldn't blame him for being angry at what he saw. He already hated himself for dreaming such things. It wasn't like they were nightmares, though Yugi often referred to them as such. However, there was one specific difference between a dream and a nightmare. In nightmare's you're afraid….sad even. And Yugi was neither. He loved every second of it.

Biting his lip and turning back to the mirror, Yugi shuddered and closed his eyes tight. He was fucked up. On some mental level, he was truly fucked up. Tears stopped raining down his face as Yugi refused to open his eyes and look at himself in the mirror. Shame and despair were too overwhelming. He couldn't face his reflection right now.

He exited his bathroom and glanced around his hot room. It was too warm inside. Yugi glanced up at the window in his ceiling and blinked. It wasn't the best idea but he would cool down, right? Perhaps his "nightmares" were associated with the heat. It was a proven fact that the higher the body temperature, the more likely an individual would have a bad dream.

Yugi grabbed his blanket from off his bed and wandered out of his room. It was especially dark in the hallway as Yugi crept by his grandfather's room. The elderly man was a light sleeper and Yugi didn't wish to disturb him.

The teen walked out to the front of the game shop and stared out the window. No one was on the street that stood a few yards from the house. Yugi grabbed the keys and unlocked the front, exiting quickly and locking back up behind him. The heated teen walked behind the shop to where the trees were thick. Yugi smiled softly as the cold winter breeze swept through the pine needles. It was so peaceful.

Yugi found a soft spot covered in pine needles under a big pine. Yugi laid his blanket down and wrapped himself in it like a cocoon. It felt so good outside. The freezing weather was just what he needed to cool off. Yugi closed his eyes. It was so quiet. So nice. It was never like this around here. He wished it wouldn't end.

Darkness started to cloud the teen's vision as exhaustion again clouded his mind. Yugi blinked hard. He didn't want to fall asleep out here, he just wanted to cool off. He closed his eyes to concentrate on the cold air so he would stay awake. The freezing temperature felt like it was soothing his sore muscles. Yugi sighed through his nose.

And then there was no more.

YES?HE?FELL?ASLEEP?OUT?IN?THE?COLD?

A/N~ Yeah, the first chapter. Hope it wasn't too much of a disappointment…


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